YouSaid · the spoken record
Pramila Jayapal
We hold 66 passages that may be Pramila Jayapal’s. We do not publish them until we can confirm who spoke. See the correction.
On the record 2021–2026
congress · podcast
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“When I am chair of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee come January, I intend to hold these people accountable for the cruelty and corruption and pass comprehensive, humane immigration reform.”
House of Representatives1 September 2026Source ↗
“We met a woman who can no longer conceive because she was subjected to a medical procedure without her consent in ICE custody. She is having healthcare issues, but she is terrified to seek care again from ICE. Meanwhile, her teenage daughter is suffering alone. We are creating generational trauma. In my district, ICE arrests are at an all-time high. GEO refuses to obey Washington State law or even allow health inspectors in. This has never been about the so-called worst of the worst. It has always been about the right wing's racist, fascist vision of ridding America of immigrants. Mr. Speaker, Americans are rejecting this.”
House of Representatives1 September 2026Source ↗
“Nenko Gantchev died under similar circumstances at another GEO facility. His health seriously deteriorated in detention as ICE reportedly provided no accommodation for his diabetes. The coroner declared one death a homicide--Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old father of four. Two weeks ago, I led a congressional delegation to inspect CoreCivic's Stewart Detention Center. We met a young man who fled the war in Yemen and has been detained for 24 months. He has no criminal record. Just that morning, ICE pulled his tooth. Blood was still pooling in his mouth as he met with us. We met a 72-year-old man whose U.S.-citizen wife is in end-stage renal failure. ICE picked him up at his green card appointment. He has no criminal record and just wants to care for his wife.”
House of Representatives1 September 2026Source ↗
“They are paying the administration to boost their profits at taxpayer expense. Meanwhile, who is Trump detaining? By ICE's own statistics, 70 percent have no criminal record. Increasingly, these are people that ICE would never have detained before: pregnant women, people with serious medical conditions, parents, people with green cards, and people showing up to their immigration appointments. As ranking member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, I am notified of every single death that happens in detention. Behind every single one is a name. Edwin Lopez-Cornejo died at GEO Group's Delaney Hall. He was a 41- year-old father of a 12-year-old U.S. citizen. ICE refused to give him his diabetes medication. His brother said he couldn't get Tylenol, let alone proper care.”
House of Representatives1 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Torres and the CHC, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, for their leadership on this issue. As ICE detains record numbers of people in overcrowded, unsanitary immigration prisons, 56 people have died under Donald Trump's administration, a 22-year high. Let's be very clear: It is all about the money. Two for-profit corporations, GEO Group and CoreCivic, operate the majority of detention beds. Together, they raked in $1.4 billion in quarterly revenue last spring. Every single night, U.S. taxpayers are paying $150 to $350 per person, per night to detain over 65,000 people. The Trump administration has rolled back detention standards and gutted oversight, allowing corporations to cut corners and maximize profits. GEO and CoreCivic donated nearly $2.8 million to Donald Trump's 2024 election.”
House of Representatives1 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I would again respond to the chairman by asking: When will we have a single classified briefing, a single hearing in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on this war? Is the chairman prepared to say that we will have that hearing on this war? Why are we so afraid of having a public hearing on the issue of whether or not we should be at war in Iran? Where is the chairman's commitment to the American people?”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, how I would like to respond to the gentleman is: We actually need a strategy. Have you seen a strategy of which ships are where? What are we planning to do? What is our end goal? How do we intend to achieve a mission?”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“This is a vote that requires us to find the strength to do what is right for the American people and to send the clearest, even stronger message to this President of the United States that the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, is reasserting our authority over war. This war must end. Vote ``yes'' on this War Powers Resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Trump.'' This is irresponsible behavior from the President of the United States. It is irresponsible behavior on the backs of War Powers Resolutions that passed in a bipartisan way in both the House and the Senate, telling the President to end this illegal and unconstitutional war. It is irresponsible behavior that is going to lead to more deaths of United States servicemembers and civilians around the world. It does not deescalate. It does not create coalitions of allies. It does not do anything to address the issues that Americans are facing right here at home. Mr. Speaker, I close where I started. This is a vote of conscience.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Months after Hegseth claimed victory, Iran continued to strike American assets in the Middle East, kill American servicemembers, and close the Strait of Hormuz. The administration has clearly gotten us into a war that they have no clue how to get us out of. Americans deserve a clear strategy, not shifting explanations that change by the day. They deserve thoughtful diplomacy, not tweets like the one the President just released today: ``From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by missile, rocket, drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran. Thank you for your attention to this matter, President Donald J.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“What we have seen over and over again is a refusal of this administration to do that. The lack of clarity about the reasons for this war are quite remarkable. The administration has continued to flip-flop between claiming that we have won the war and then later that more bombs are needed. After Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, the Trump administration told us that U.S. strikes on Iran had destroyed their military and obliterated nuclear programs. After the initial strikes on Iran, Secretary Hegseth said that the Iranian military was ``destroyed'' and ``made combat ineffective.'' In April, he declared Operation Epic Fury was a ``historic and overwhelming victory'' and that the United States achieved ``every single objective,'' but this is plainly false, and the American people know it.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Amongst all Americans, a staggering 70 percent disapprove of this President's handling of the war and almost two-thirds of all Americans, including over half of MAGA supporters, blame Trump's war on Iran for their rising prices. I think it is important for us to understand that these moments of conscience in our country require a strength of conviction and courage that our constituents expect us to have. When they elect us, they expect us to honor the oath of office that we took. They expect us to understand the implications of the responsibilities that are conferred on us by that United States Constitution. They expect us to vote regardless of party for the thing that will keep Americans safe. They expect us to take care of the needs that they have right here at home.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this vote is a vote of conscience. We are begging our colleagues here in Congress to stand up for our fellow Americans, for the Constitution, and for our Article I powers that our Founders thought so carefully about when they wrote the Constitution. This war is remarkably unpopular. It is so unpopular that it is America's least popular war since polls began, and that has been true since the first bombs were dropped. This war is unpopular even amongst President Donald Trump's own supporters. Back in May, only half of self-proclaimed MAGA Republicans thought that the war was worth the cost. Now, 2 months later, only about a third do. That is a 13-point drop in just 2 months.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“I hope that there are even more on the other side who listen to this debate and are moved to join us in passing this War Powers Resolution with even more strength in votes than the last one. Our Founders knew that going to war was one of the most solemn decisions that our country would face and that it had to be debated and authorized only by the elected Representatives of the people of the United States of America, Congress, not by a President who ignores his obligation to the institution and his obligation to the people of the United States. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this War Powers Resolution. We must end this war now. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Had the JCPOA been left in place, we would not be in this situation today. It would have worked to minimize Iran's nuclear threat and strengthen Iranian civil society instead of slapping sanctions on and deepening the brutal regime's hold. I want to thank Ranking Member Meeks for his tremendous leadership on this issue. I want to thank my Democratic and Republican colleagues who are voting for this bill for their clarity of conscience and of Constitution. I also want to thank Congressman Crow for his partnership on this War Powers Resolution as well as the bipartisan group of Members who have cosponsored, many of whom have served in uniform for our country and uniquely understand the immense sacrifice and duty of serving in our Armed Forces.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“The American people are paying the price of this war literally through our tax dollars that Donald Trump refuses to spend to benefit the lives of Americans here at home; through the lives of our United States servicemembers who ask only that their willingness and their pride in serving be rewarded with our real thoughtfulness of purpose before sending them into war; through the pain at the gas pump and the grocery store as prices continue to tick up; through the broken relationships with allies around the world who no longer believe that the United States is a real partner to them; through the sacrifices of the American people who desperately want this administration and this Congress to focus on making their lives affordable so they can actually thrive rather than just barely survive. Regime change, Mr. Speaker, doesn't work.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“It has been driven over and over again by a President who won his election by telling the American people that he would end forever wars and instead has launched us into more forever wars to distract the American people from the real issues they are facing at home. As the secretary of forever wars, Pete Hegseth, announced, we have already spent $37.5 billion on this illegal and unconstitutional war. Donald Trump has called affordability a hoax, stated that we have no money for healthcare, and refused to sign a bipartisan bill to help address the housing crisis that this country is facing. Today, on the House floor, Republicans have put bills forward to demand $1.15 trillion for the Pentagon, the only Federal agency that has actually failed eight consecutive audits, and he is about to put another $73 billion into this illegal war.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“I give tremendous honor and respect to our servicemembers, those who serve, those who have sacrificed their lives, including U.S. Air Force Captain Ariana G. Savino who is from my home State of Washington. The cost of this war is incalculable. Not only have we lost 18 U.S. servicemembers, but this war has been waged at the cost of thousands of civilians who have been displaced or killed in the region, and all on the backs of U.S. taxpayers who desperately want this administration to focus on the crisis of their pocketbooks: The basic inability of Americans in the richest country in the world to afford healthcare, gas, groceries, and housing. From the beginning, this war has had no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Instead of respecting Congress' Article I sole constitutional authorities over war, the President has doubled down on more illegal strikes, escalating the situation in the region and leading to more Iranian strikes that killed two United States soldiers as well as an additional servicemember who was killed during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian attack drone. Gas prices across the country have gone up again. The memorandum of understanding has turned into a deadly memorandum of misunderstanding with the Iranian Government continuing to utilize leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. This is an illegal and unconstitutional war waged without authorization from Congress and at a tremendous cost of a total of 18 U.S. servicemembers who have lost their lives and hundreds more who have been injured.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“It tries to make you forget that there is a real solution that I helped co-lead called the Restore Trust in Government Act, which actually does ban stock trading. It does ban insider trading. It does root out corruption in government. It does prohibit Presidents, Vice Presidents, Members of Congress, and their dependent children, spouses, and trustees from owning and trading individual stocks. If this Republican majority were to bring that bill to the floor, if we were allowed to force a vote on these bills, they would actually pass, and Republicans would have to admit that their bill does nothing.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“It allows Members to continue selling stocks that they know will decrease in value based on insider information they got while in Congress. Their bill would do nothing to stop Congressman Rob Bresnahan, who just last year dumped $130,000 worth of stock in four Medicaid providers before he voted to slash Medicaid for constituents and people across the country. It would do nothing to stop Congresswoman Lisa McClain, whose husband bought at least $100,000 worth of stock in Elon Musk's AI company shortly before its model was adopted by the Defense Department. A Common Cause report published at the end of 2025 said that Members of Congress made 13,324 trades, totaling a whopping $635 million in 2025. This is absurd. No wonder we are governing in a moment when public trust is at historical lows.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, let me be clear about what my colleagues are trying to do in their bill that they are advancing. They are trying to advance a fake stock trading ban. I want to be very clear: Their bill does not block insider trading, no matter what it is called. It does not ban stock trading, which is the number one issue for over 80 percent of Americans who want Members of Congress to stop padding their own pockets instead of addressing their constituents' interests, things like ending the illegal war in Iran, bringing down gas prices, bringing down grocery prices, and investing in housing. None of that is going to be protected. Their bill allows Members to still purchase private stocks, keep public stocks that they already own, and act on legislative matters that directly increase the value of their stocks.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, the Republican majority leader said: You can be what you want in America. That is what he said, but you can't be what you want in Republicans' America. Factually, the top 1 percent of billionaires and millionaires in America are worth more than 291 million Americans, 90 percent of the country, because we are rigging the economy against them. That is what Republicans are doing. There are 801 U.S. billionaires who have $6 trillion of wealth, and Republicans now want to give a $4.5 trillion tax cut to the wealthiest billionaires. That is what Donald Trump said: ``You're rich as hell.'' ``We're going to give you tax cuts.'' This is on the backs of working Americans because voting ``yes'' for this resolution is voting for a minimum of $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. That is healthcare taken away from 72 million Americans.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“These are the hallmarks of an authoritarian who wants to hold all power, and the courts are doing what they are supposed to do and issuing nationwide injunctions against this kind of abuse of power. Somehow, my colleagues never complained about nationwide injunctions when dozens were issued against former Presidents Obama and Biden, but now that it is against Donald Trump, they want to rig the rules to give the President free rein to do whatever he wants, regardless of whether it is illegal or unconstitutional. Well, get this: We do not have kings in America. Vote ``no'' on this bill.”
House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗
“In a lawsuit brought in my home State of Washington, a Reagan-appointed Federal judge--not a Democratic-appointed Federal judge, a Reagan- appointed Federal judge--ruled that the order was blatantly unconstitutional because the 14th Amendment plainly states that all persons born in the United States are U.S. citizens. What is next, stripping citizenship from U.S. citizens? That is in the Trump extremist playbook, as well. So is apparently kidnapping and disappearing people, including those with legal status, without any due process, as well as getting rid of entire departments established by Congress and suppressing freedom of speech and dissent.”
House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1526, a bill that would prohibit district courts from issuing nationwide injunctions. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want you to believe that somehow these nationwide injunctions being issued by courts across the country against Donald Trump's illegal and unconstitutional actions are unfair. Well, here is the message. If you don't like the injunctions, don't do illegal, unconstitutional stuff. That is simple. Nationwide injunctions play an essential role in protecting our democracy and holding the political branches accountable. Without them, thousands or millions of people could be harmed by these illegal or unconstitutional government policies. Just look at Donald Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship.”
House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗
“It reshaped how we as a country talk about gender-based violence and how we treat survivors. The Violence Against Women Act recognized that we cannot be serious about eliminating violence against women if we are not equally serious about eradicating violence against everyone, regardless of immigration status. There are so many reasons why individuals in domestic violence situations are unjustly forced into the criminal legal system. We have seen the data. Too often survivors are arrested alongside their abuser, and they are charged and even convicted of crimes involving violence which later prove to be in self-defense or unjustly charged. This bill makes it more likely that we harm the very people we want to protect.”
House of Representatives16 January 2025Source ↗